Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm definitely getting a little lazy about posting. This time of year gets a little stressful for me for a variety of reasons and blogging is one of the easiest things to let fall through the cracks. When the days get short and gray, money gets tight, family stresses have to be dealt with, etc. it's kind of hard to get in the mood for holidays. On top of it all I have a cold, so I took a sick day today. I'm not that sick, but I'm hoping taking a day to catch up on things around the house, take an afternoon nap, and stay in out of the cold will help.

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On a brighter note, we go to pick up college son for the weekend tomorrow. It will be good to see him and he is definitely ready for a break from school. TB is having a good time with his marching band in Disney World. They are performing in the Magic Kingdom parade today. SD is busy with school and a little stressed too, but she got some good news yesterday. She was one of 10 kids from her high school invited to be a part of a special program about research at the Mayo Clinic. It is basically a recruitment tactic to get kids interested in going into research. She is really into science and interested in being a veterinarian, but that is enormously competitive, so I'm glad for her to get some information about other uses for a Biology degree. I think she's close to making a decision about college. Business has been slow for DH, and he worries about it from time to time, but we're all doing a pretty good job of keeping positive. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who reads this. I'm trying to follow my own advice....be thankful....for friends...family...material blessings...health...faith....more than I can list. It does help!!

Furnace Issues

The furnace has suddenly started making a high pitched whine and running constantly instead of the usual on and off thing. I doesn't sound good. I'm having a guy come to look at it on Friday, so hopefully the news won't be too bad. Fortunately we have one of those service plans with our gas company that covers most furnace issues. The furnace is in the middle of my husband's workshop which is a complete mess right now. Maybe I'll be able to convince him to clean it up a little before the repairman comes. Anyway, with overnight lows in the single digits predicted for the end of the week, I sure hope it doesn't completely quit working!!

A Place to Lay Your Head

I mentioned the choir benefit in my last post. I wanted to pass along a comment from the pastor of the host church. In welcoming everyone and mentioning the free will offering he encouraged everyone to give generously. He said that although the tough economic times are hard for everyone, none of us have to wonder where we will lay our head. That comment has really stayed with me. I fear that times will be tough for us this winter, but it really puts things in perspective. If you're able, give to the poor or homeless in your area, if not monetarily, than of your time, household items, clothing etc. We do have a lot to be thankful for.

Meals, Music, Movies, and More Meals

We had quite a nice weekend, I know it's Tuesday, but I'm still thinking about all that happened. On Friday night, our church choir participated in a choir benefit for an agency that supports homeless families in our town. Churches, including mine, take turns hosting the families for a week at a time. The church provides the evening meal and places to sleep, usually on air mattresses in Sunday School rooms. During the day, the clients go to a day home where the agency works with them to find housing, jobs, etc. It has been a pretty successful program and has really changed my view of what it means to be homeless. Most are young women with children. Anyway, there were about a dozen choirs participating along with an orchestra and a brass group. It was fun to hear the other choirs perform and also to sing two pieces as a mass choir. The event raised $9,000 plus, so that was nice considering the tough economic times for most people. Afterwards, most of the choir went to a Mexican restaurant for a late supper and drinks. On Saturday, I did some things around the house and also got the leaves in the front yard picked up again. It was cold enough to see my breath, so I felt a little silly, but I used the mower with the bagging attachment to get the leaves. Late in the afternoon, we met four other couples to go see the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. I didn't really like the movie that well, but all of the "boys" did. After that we went to an Italian restaurant for a fabulous meal, so that made the evening worth it. I was pretty exhausted by the time we got home. I had recorded the Gopher hockey game, so I watched that mostly on fast forward. We had to be to church early on Sunday as the bell choir and the regular choir I'm in performed at the early service. We played bells at the beginning of the late service too and then I came home for a quick nap. I had to make it quick since we were hosting a Fellowship Tables meal Sunday night. For this there are four couples who get together three times during the year for a meal. It is a nice chance to get to know some people we wouldn't otherwise. I knew the other couples only a little, so I wasn't sure how it would go, but we had a really nice time. Everyone brings part of the meal, so it isn't so much work for the hosts. I also managed to watch most of the Sunday afternoon hockey game while I was working around the house and kitchen. I've never been much of a hockey fan, but the goalie is from our town and I know his parents, so it has been fun to keep up with it. He had his first shut-out and is undefeated so far this year.

Moon Over Minnesota

We had an incredibly bright moon last night, actually this morning at 4:34 a.m. What was I doing up at that hour? Letting out my elderly dog. I'd love to sleep through the night once in awhile, but it doesn't happen anymore. Sammy isn't usually the reason; it's usually snoring or worrying or temperature issues. I'd appreciate any ideas on how to get a middle aged woman to sleep through the night. Ha If you enlarge my shot, you can see the trees a little and some wierd flecks of color. I think I must have something on my lens. I also heard an owl hooting while I was out there, so between that and the moon, and getting to go back to bed and sleep a few more hours, it was worth it. Happy Friday everyone, it's been a looong week!

Block of the Month Progress

Here's the progress on my last year's block of the month. For those quilters who are interested, its the WinterBerry fabric line from Maywood Studios. The patterns are created using templates from Marti Michele (set B). This was definitely a learning experience for me. Lots of little triangles, lots of margin for error, lots of errors actually. I also got my new machine mid-year, so that didn't help any. All in all though, I'm happy with how it turned out. It took a lot of creativity to make everything square, so my most important lesson was how important accuracy is. I made the first block for this year in a big hurry and it didn't turn out too well. After futzing so much with this quilt, I decided to start over and do it right from the start this time. I still have the outer borders to add, but it seems that a sewing room reorganization is in order first, so it may take awhile. Now off to the dentist!

GRRRR!

I chipped my front tooth today. I originally chipped it on a fork at Olive Garden, had it repaired, it fell off again, had it repaired. This will be the third time. I chipped it while blowing my whistle at some naughty kids at recess. Having a decent sense of humor, I do realize it's funny. Even the girl at the dentist laughed when I told her how I did it. I'm just afraid they'll want to do a veneer this time. Not exactly what I wanted for Christmas!

What a Difference a Day Makes

I had to show pictures of this bush in our yard. I don't remember it being such a bright red other years, but it is about the last color I have in the back yard so I have really been enjoying it this week. Incidentally, my flash went off on the picture on the left. I took it after work yesterday, around 4:45, and since it starts getting dark so early I needed flash. It is so strange to have it completely dark outside by 5:15 or so.

Skywatch Friday or Not Ready For This!

I woke up this morning to this; gray sky, snow falling, the ground completely white. It's really pretty, but after the record highs we've had this week, I wasn't ready for this. We don't have school today due the end of the first quarter. I would be sleeping in, but we're off to our Block of the Month class this morning. I'm just about ready to show a picture of last year's completed top, maybe tomorrow.

Voting as a Celebration

My polling place, coincidentally is at the school I work at. I noticed it was pretty slow in the middle of the afternoon so I slipped in to vote on my afternoon break. After school I usher the kids onto their buses and as I was coming back inside, I ran into two of my daughter's friends. They were grinning ear-to-ear and told me that they had just voted for the first time. They said they felt powerful and were really excited about it. Later as I was walking through the parking lot to leave, I overheard an older lady talking to some younger ones about the 60's, reminiscing I guess. People were coming in a steady stream at that point, hurrying in after work. I got into my van to drive home and got to thinking about what a privilege it is to be able to vote in the way that we do. In my town, the voter turnout is expected to be the highest ever, around 80%, so I'm happy that so many are taking advantage of it. It really is a celebration in many ways. Part of my celebratory mood had to do with the fact that the ferocious campaigning is over, part of it that the weather is still so beautiful, part of it that I think my candidate will win. We'll see, but if you haven't voted yet, get going!! And please, tomorrow, can we just all get along no matter what the outcome is? In other words, no sour grapes? I'm going to be tempted to leave a few "neenerneenerneener" comments at some blogs tomorrow, but I'll take the high road.

November Nice

After a beautiful weekend, it's lovely again today. 74 degrees, in Minnesota, in November, unreal!!! Our weekend included a fun Halloween party Friday night at some friends house. We were all supposed to come dressed in black and then there were many costume parts to choose from as embellishments. I spent the night in a red wig and scarf. I looked ridiculous I'm sure, but it was fun. I kept having these rather serious conversations with people forgetting I had this wig on. DH wore a hat with long dreadlocks coming out underneath. Everyone told him it looked quite natural on him. We spent a lot of the evening outside around a fire, having smores, and visiting. I did a lot of cleaning on Saturday and then watched Gopher hockey game. We had to be at church early for choir for All Saints Sunday. After a nice nap, I got in some more sewing Sunday night. I'm finally making some good progress on getting last year's BOM put together. I hope to be able to show the finished top by the end of the week. I think I'll be ready to crash early tonight. Sammy is still on Daylight time and has been waking me up at odd hours, so I've been tired all day. It looks like a couple more nice days until we're back to the usual weather and possibly some snow later in the week. :(